Ron Deuter | Iron Mountain Daily News Escanaba’s Nicole Kamin (4) and Maysie Lancour (14) harass West Iron County’s Jordan Shamion (21) during the first quarter of Friday’s non-conference basketball game at Charles Greenlund Gymnasium.

STAMBAUGH — Emily Nelson scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the final quarter, and West Iron County pulled away late to defeat Escanaba 51-39 Friday evening in non-conference girls basketball at Charles Greenlund Gymnasium.

Nelson, committed to Michigan Tech for basketball, posted a double-double in the game, adding a game-best 17 rebounds with her 20 points. Her big fourth quarter helped the Wykons separate from Escanaba after what was a tight contest throughout.

“Her presence on the inside, I don’t think they could stop her,” Wykons head coach Eric Shamion said. “She finished at the rim, hit some free throws for us.”

The Wykons trailed by two entering the final frame, but a putback by Nelson knotted the game 31-31, and she added another inside bucket to put West Iron in front 33-31 with 6:55 to play. The Wykons’ lead only grew from there.

Guard Anna Malmquist also reached double figures for West Iron, scoring 10 points. Tori Bociek added eight points with five boards, scoring six in the fourth with a triple. Jordan Shamion and Mya Grubbs each collected six rebounds.

“I thought we came out flat and we just couldn’t get our inside game going early in the game,”Shamion said. “Credit Escanaba’s defense. They played a 1-3-1 and it was very effective. We only put up 19 points in the first half. But we found our rhythm in the second half. Credit the girls effort. They played a really good game.”

Escanaba, led by Nicole Kamin with 13 points and nine rebounds and Madison Monkevich with 11 points and six boards, ran out to an 8-2 lead in the game before West Iron battled back to make it 8-8, and the game was within a basket most of the way from there. The Eskymos carried just a three-point advantage into the break.

“We didn’t play very well in the second half,” Escanaba head coach Mike Beveridge said. “We missed free throws, we didn’t execute our defense very well, and they got inside and penetrated on us.

Escanaba was 13-for-27 at the line, and they entered the fourth quarter in the bonus but only hit 5-of-12 free throws in the final stanza. West Iron was 11-for-23 free throw shooting for the game.

“The second half was a little disappointing and little bit of a let down for us tonight,” Beveridge said. “I give her (Nelson) credit. We could have done a better job on it, but we just were not all on the same page. When she gets it, we should have collapsed more, but give them credit, They played a good game that second half.”

Escanaba rolled 47-26 in the junior varsity game, getting 24 points from freshman Carney Salo.

Escanaba (1-1) hosts Negaunee Tuesday. The Wykons (2-0) welcome Iron Mountain Tuesday.

Escanaba 14 8 9 8 — 39

West Iron County 14 5 10 22 — 51

Escanaba — Barron 2, Kamin 13, Monkevich 11, Weber 6, Ray 7.

West Iron County — Malmquist 10, Nelson 20, Grubbs 2, Bociek 8, Dahl 6, Shamion 5.